


Mind you grow a little wiser (A little better every day)

by TheHeartOfTheStar



Series: Breathless Nights As This [3]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: Freddie means well but he's stubborn, Gardener!Jim, M/M, Money, OT5, barely, it's very early and jim doesn't want to fight, poly!Queen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 15:22:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20293669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHeartOfTheStar/pseuds/TheHeartOfTheStar
Summary: It was hard to find his place inside a relationship that had found a balance more than ten years ago. So he wasn’t surprised, but that didn’t make it any easier.





	Mind you grow a little wiser (A little better every day)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, lovelies! This is a little thing I wrote some time ago, because I keep wondering what would it be for Jim to suddenly enter this beautiful mess Queen is.
> 
> Tittle taken from Queen's Keep yourself alive.

Dating four men was hard, as amazing as those four men were. Jim had never been one to delude himself, and he had headed into this relationship fully expecting it to be difficult. So he wasn’t surprised. But that didn’t make it any easier.

On the one hand, it was as if they fit together perfectly. Like they were meant for each other, which they were. On the other hand, it seemed like they were always colliding.

These musicians were all so stubborn Jim didn’t know how they got anything done. Up until this moment, they mainly argued over music, their own and others'. They had an inner language Jim didn’t talk fluently, lots of references he didn’t really get. But as music was such an integral part of their lives, whatever troubles they had in the studio necessarily bled into their personal lives.

One memorable evening, Brian and John had been arguing over nothing. Jim could tell they were exhausted, and had suggested rescheduling date night, but the band had refused. Over dinner, the bassist and guitarist hadn’t talked much. Freddie and Roger were overcompensating by blabbering their hearts away about nothing in particular. It was nice, and Jim truly enjoyed their talking, but it only made it more obvious that John and Brian weren’t really into it tonight.

The gardener had understood enough of their comments to get that something had happened earlier regarding a guitar solo. After dinner, the two of them went to select a movie, and while they had been mostly silent during dinner, now they were openly snapping at each other. Jim had gotten a bit antsy, but Roger tried to distract him from it. 

Things had escalated quickly into a full-fledged argument. Nothing they hadn’t handled before, apparently, as Roger assured him in a whisper by the sink, where both of them were doing the dishes. Then, Brian had laughed sardonically and said _Or what, you’re going to go Back Chat on me again?_ And Jim didn’t really know what was going on, but it had been a bit of a mess afterwards.

The boys were all stepping carefully around Jim, because they weren’t really sure what was alright to do. And even being careful like that, they found ways to clash.

Some weeks ago, he had stayed the night at their place. It was nice, they had a wonderful night. In the morning, the four of them were sleeping soundly when Jim slipped out of bed. He had a busy day ahead, and he had to make to most of it.

Jim put together a quick breakfast, and cuddled Delilah while he waited for the kettle. Right when he was tying his shoes, Freddie had appeared in the doorway.

“Good morning, love” Jim said with a smile, coming up to him for a quick hug. But Freddie had just collapsed against the gardener. Jim laughed and maneuvered them to the lounge sofa near the front door.

“Stay” whispered Freddie. And oh, how Jim wanted to.

“I can’t” he smiled again, and pecked Freddie’s lips. But when he pulled back, the singer wasn’t smiling.

“You always say that” muttered Freddie pulling away, and Jim felt very confused.

“Well, I _do_ have a job, you know” he offered Freddie a smile, but the singer was rolling his eyes in exasperation.

“A _job_! Big deal!” cried Freddie throwing his hands in the air. “Why don’t you just quit already!”

“What?” he asked slowly. He didn’t want to get defensive, it was very early in the morning, and sometimes Freddie just got whiny and demanding. Still, Jim felt this was something else entirely. This wasn’t just Freddie asking him for a cuddle session, or to stay the weekend, or something of the sort. Was Freddie really asking him to quit his job to stay home and do… what, exactly?

“You heard me! Why are you even working anyway? We have more than enough money to last us forever!” whined Freddie, with a frown and a pout that didn’t match together. But the gardener wasn’t really appreciating the potential cuteness in Freddie’s face right now.

“I won’t stop working just because you’re rich!” replied Jim. And he loved Freddie, but he wasn’t going to take this bullshit.

“What’s going on?” asked a sleepy John from the hallway.

“You don’t need to work anymore!” cried Freddie, clearly upset. And the rational part of Jim knew the singer was doing this because he cared about him, even if he wasn’t going about it in the best of ways. But it was very early in the morning, Jim had been in such a great mood, and now he was very annoyed and a bit hurt.

“Well, I _do_ need to keep working. Imagine what would happen to my gardens” Jim tried to laugh it off, putting on his jacket and opening the door.

“Oh please, it’s gardening! You’re not changing anyone’s world with that!” Freddie snorted derisively, and he heard John gasp. At that, Jim froze.

“I won’t stop working just because you throw a tantrum, Freddie” he said coldly, leaving the house.

That night, Freddie called to apologize. Jim was tired, but when Freddie asked if he could come over, the gardener had agreed.

The next morning, Freddie sent him off to work with a kiss. _I love you, and I do think your work is important_, had whispered Freddie. And Jim knew that. Out of all his soulmates, the one he felt appreciated more the little details about plants was the singer. Even if Freddie got over the line sometimes, he knew that. 

It was hard to find his place inside a relationship that had found a balance more than ten years ago. They had their own dynamics, they knew each other in ways Jim did not. And necessarily, that set him apart, even when they were clearly making an effort to include him.

Jim had no doubt they would find their own balance eventually, but in the meantime they had to power through. Even when sometimes it was exasperating.

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, your comments are life and I love every single one of them. 
> 
> English isn't my first language, if you spot any typos please let me know :)


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